LETTER: This is intolerable

Published: Friday, May 9, 2014 at 05:07 PM.

Over the past few decades, no organization in Florida has fought Second Amendment rights more than the Florida Sheriffs Association. The FSA fought concealed-carry. It opposed Stand Your Ground. Today, the FSA opposes open-carry and concealed-carry on college campuses.
Just recently, the FSA helped kill a National Rifle Association bill that would have allowed gun owners to carry firearms during mandatory evacuations. As a result, law-abiding gun owners who carry firearms during a mandatory evacuation risk arrest and prosecution.
The FSA is funded in large part by contributions from sheriffs’ budgets, which consist of tax dollars. From its budget, the FSA pays private lobbyists tens of thousands of dollars annually to represent its interests in the Legislature.
In other words, Florida’s gun owners pay taxes that end up in the pockets of lobbyists who are paid to do whatever they can to undermine the Second Amendment. This is intolerable.
The FSA wields nearly unparalleled power in Tallahassee. Sheriffs — almost always in uniform — walk the Capitol warning legislators not to vote against their positions. Fearing reprisal on Election Day, many legislators simply vote however the FSA demands.
Given the FSA’s open hostility to the Second Amendment, legislators should disclose any communications they have had with the FSA on all gun-related bills. More important, every sheriff should disclose exactly how much of his or her constituents’ money has been used to undermine constitutional rights.

— JEAN ALEXANDER
Fort Walton Beach

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Over the past few decades, no organization in Florida has fought Second Amendment rights more than the Florida Sheriffs Association. The FSA fought concealed-carry. It opposed Stand Your Ground. Today, the FSA opposes open-carry and concealed-carry on college campuses.
Just recently, the FSA helped kill a National Rifle Association bill that would have allowed gun owners to carry firearms during mandatory evacuations. As a result, law-abiding gun owners who carry firearms during a mandatory evacuation risk arrest and prosecution.
The FSA is funded in large part by contributions from sheriffs’ budgets, which consist of tax dollars. From its budget, the FSA pays private lobbyists tens of thousands of dollars annually to represent its interests in the Legislature.
In other words, Florida’s gun owners pay taxes that end up in the pockets of lobbyists who are paid to do whatever they can to undermine the Second Amendment. This is intolerable.
The FSA wields nearly unparalleled power in Tallahassee. Sheriffs — almost always in uniform — walk the Capitol warning legislators not to vote against their positions. Fearing reprisal on Election Day, many legislators simply vote however the FSA demands.
Given the FSA’s open hostility to the Second Amendment, legislators should disclose any communications they have had with the FSA on all gun-related bills. More important, every sheriff should disclose exactly how much of his or her constituents’ money has been used to undermine constitutional rights.